In the early days of his presidency, Donald Trump has flexed his executive muscles. Since being sworn into office he has signed a litany of executive orders and memorandums, with subjects ranging from abortion to international trade.

An executive order is a bill signed into law by the president that functions effectively as law. Congress has the right to pass legislation to limit the power of the executive order, and, in rare circumstances, the Supreme Court can overthrow the executive order entirely. A memorandum, more commonly used by former President Obama, and now embraced by Trump, is a style of executive action that functions virtually the same as an executive order, only a step lower on the presidential action hierarchy. Generally, a memorandum will direct a single agency to do a single thing, while an executive order generally has a much broader organizational impact.

As Trump closes in on his first week in office, here's a look at some of his first moves as president.

Affordable Care Act easing: On day one, Trump wasted no time signing an executive order entitled "Minimizing The Economic Burden Of The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal." The order required all government agencies to maximize effort in finding ways to reduce the cost to hospitals, private medical institutions and medical manufacturers by allowing the most possible flexibility legally allowed by the law. Additionally, Trump signed a typical new party-in-power order, requiring all new regulations to be held off until his cabinet has been sworn in and reviewed the policies.

Memorandum pulls U.S. out of Trans-Pacific Partnership: On Monday, Jan. 23, Trump signed a memorandum that effectively sent a note that the United States will be pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. TPP is a trade agreement between the US, China, Japan, Canada, and several other Pacific-bordering nations that set standards for tariffs and, in Obama's terms, "leveled the playing field," removing thousands of tariffs that potentially could expand US international exporting. Signed by Obama, but not ratified by the Senate, Trump called his decision to pull from TPP "a great thing for the American worker."

Reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy: Also on Monday, Trump reinstated a directive that bars beneficiaries of the Foreign Assistance Act from receiving funding if they perform or promote abortions as a form of family planning. Originally signed by Reagan in 1984, the directive has been volleyed back and forth, depending on which party is in power, being dropped under Clinton, reinstated under Bush and dropped again under Obama. Trump's signing takes the bill further, expanding to all beneficiaries. Formerly, only non-government entities were held accountable.

Abortion rights advocates have called the policy a "gag order," and a policy with no purpose besides hindering education. Regardless of the policy, no US funding goes towards performing foreign abortions; this is prevented by the Helms Amendment of 1973. Likewise, the Hyde Amendment of 1977 prevents domestic federal funding of abortion, unless in cases of rape, incest or severe health risk.

Freeze on government hiring: Finally on Monday, Trump mirrored Reagan by setting an early presidency hiring freeze on government agencies. Excluded from this are military, national security and agencies otherwise deemed necessary.

Plans for expedition of Keystone XL: Trump signed a series of memorandums into effect that would expedite the means to get the Keystone XL pipeline off the ground. The proposed 1,172 mile pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois has received scrutiny for a potential environmental risks and is the center of an ongoing protest in North Dakota. Trump's memorandums asked for the Army Corps of Engineers to review the plan in an expedited manner, Transcanada, the company behind the pipeline, to "promptly submit their application" and an executive order pushing to fast-track approval for all "high-priority infrastructure projects."

Trump also held true to his plans to bring back American steel, sending a memorandum to the Secretary of Commerce requiring all future pipelines to be constructed solely of American steel.